 Physical activity burns calories, it’s a simple relationship. But exercise doesn’t have to mean paying to join a gym – and feeling guilty when your attendance record lapses following the induction. One of the tricks of becoming more energetic is finding ways to build physical activity into your everyday life. Sporting exercise may be a great benefit but so too can regular daily walks, doing the household chores, gardening or walking or cycling instead of using the bus or car. You may soon find that becoming more active in these ways can also save you money which is great news in these credit crunch times. Just 30 minutes of moderate activity a day, five days a week, can have a positive effect on your health. And the more active you are, the more you can reduce your risks of developing serious health conditions such as heart disease or cancer.
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It is possible to burn calories without even noticing and have fun in the process – remarkable yet true. Here are our suggestions on lessening the wobble in the waistline the easy way.
- Swimming, whether lengths in a local pool or messing around at the seaside on holiday, can burn 200 calories in just 30 minutes.
- Walking can use up to 200 calories every half-hour while power walking can turn up the rev counter even more.
- A vigorous game of bat and ball can burn over 150 calories in just 15 minutes.
- Clothes shopping can burn up to 300 calories every hour – maybe that’s why they put chairs for exhausted partners outside the changing rooms!
- A kick-about in the park can burn 550 calories an hour.
- Hire some bicycles for a family day out – cycling at just five miles per hour burns 250 calories in 60 minutes.
- Go wild in the country and help the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers with gardening, planting or clearing, using up between 300 and 500 calories per hour.
- Children can burn over 100 calories in just 15 minutes while on the trampoline or in a bouncy castle.
- Hopping, skipping and playing games with the kids always makes for active times.
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